I went into this movie knowing next to nothing about this movie or this particular universe. What I did know came from the preview and that mostly served to confuse me. The confusion did not last.

This movie’s back story was expertly woven in. Let’s be honest, if they had explained everything I didn’t know about including all the new races and worlds and governments, this movie would have been nothing but narration setting things up. But they would have alienated most of the audience who would spend way too much time wondering why the green girl hated the human and the blue girl who is kind of her sister (who is Amy Pond btw guys) and no time actually buying into the plot and the characters.

Luckily for us someone knew what he or she was doing. What ends up on the screen is a plot that explains everything it needs to without taking us on a detour. Back story is weaved into the dialogue but in a way that still pushes the story forward. New species and location are introduced through reasonable plot points.

Like every good tortured super hero, Star-Lord doesn’t have parents. The opening doesn’t give you any choice but to feel what they want you to feel. If the first scene makes you worry that this isn’t the Marvel superhero movie you signed up for don’t worry.

The movie is as funny as it was pitched to us as being. Sure, Star-Lord is a funny man but the other characters hold their own. They are not flat or static. Each character has the opportunity to realistically grow.

Chris Pratt was a great choice for his role. He does get shirtless and it isn’t bad at all. He has a good body to look at but it isn’t so perfect that he couldn’t possibly look like that on a normal day.

This movie even made the obligatory things work well. It set the Guardians in the world of Marvel well with the magically item without slapping us in the face with it like “look at the not Tesseract!” And while I think the “his father is still alive out there looking for him and…gasp…NOT HUMAN?!” plot is a cheap way to go, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t pay to see it.

I will however mention one negative, the action scenes were muddled. The combat was a little too close and the scenes were a little too dark leaving me wishing for simpler combat and cleaner views. Luckily, that doesn’t detract enough from the movie to cause a viewer to become detached.

Verdict: A fresh superhero world that I’m more than willing to spend my time and money exploring.

Social Cues: Accessible for most everyone but don’t be expecting anything other than what it bills itself as.